#jkr bashing

The main one writing the actual words on the page is Solstice (@packcoventhing), a dissociative system with Autism, OCD, GAD, SAD, and ADHD. He also has chronic patellofemoral syndrome (loose kneecaps), undiagnosed hypermobility, and other physical issues. Usually in authors' notes, if it’s not noted who wrote it, it comes from him or both authors. He loves character interactions, development, and personality showcases. He’s 19 years old and uses it/he pronouns. The co-author that does a lot of the nitty gritty in finding sources for us both to read, making the map, helping plot the actual books, etc etc. is Lief (@sfhppjmc). They have undiagnosed everything (/silly), except for a few physical issues, they’re autistic, OCD, GAD, dyspraxic, and have vision disorders, a movement disorder, and history of lung and asthma issues. They like evolutions of relationships, culture, influences of anything around them, and adding in representation of all kinds. They’re 18 and use they/it pronouns. We are both contactable through tumblr if you guys have any questions!

tbh sev and remus r my fav chars ijdk how to feel abt the whole boggart scene? like i dont think he shouldve humiliated sev that way, but we do need to remember that jkr is transphobic as shit unfortunately. i cant ever imagine remus as being bigoted or transphobic/queerphobic though? we still need to remember that this was the 90s, and reps/scenes such as these were common in 90s/2000s media and the years before that. this scene also very much feels like jkr simply projecting on her fav character because it very much goes against what we know of remus and sev; remus felt bad for sev, but couldnt bring himself to tell his friends to stop because he thought they would drop him. he tried to tell them to stop once, but they didn’t listen, and he never tried again. he never participated in the bullying, nor helped snape; just watched from the sidelines, as he didn’t want sev to think he was like his friends/found family but also didnt want them to think he was 'betraying' them or something.

i like to imagine many things in hp in my own version of canon, and that involves this scene; i prefer to have it be remus telling neville to imagine snape doing something very out-of-character for him, which would be funny. for example singing, or dancing, etc..

in my books (no pun intended), he only told neville to imagine severus wearing his grandma’s clothes as his 'riddikulus' because the way nev’s grandma dresses looks funny (at least from remus’ pov). and just imagining severus dressing in a way completely different from how he usually dresses is funny, not because he’s in drag. i wouldnt even rlly consider that drag? while it was likely jkr trying to make fun of drag queens i dont think that was remus’ intention (does that make sense?). i think he told him to imagine sev wearing his grandma’s clothes bc nev’s grandma admittedly dresses in a way that looks funny/weird on her as well, and imagining such a serious and all-black man such as severus wearing it would be funny because of how out-of-character that is. i might just be biased bc remus is one of my comfort characters, and i’m just delusional, but hey.

the whole boggart scene in general makes me uncomfortable as a trans and queer person, and because i view sev as trans-coded or at least queer-coded. but i also view remus as queer-coded (not only bc of the lycanthropy, it’s his general vibe and the fact jkr /neg wrote him in the same way that she writes the 'good' hp mothers, not to mention his interactions with sirius and the fact david thewlis and the director themselves thought he was gay, but the allegory of his lycanthropy being his queerness also makes sense in an uncomfortable way? because if you take remus being outed as a werewolf, then quitting his job as a teacher [one of the only jobs he was ever able to get because of who he is] since he knows the parents will view him as a danger to the children, it sounds like a reference to homophobia. a very bad and admittedly anti-queer accidental queer-coding, but still. anyways we’re getting side tracked), and i genuinely cannot bring myself to see him as bigoted or in any way discriminating. to me that whole scene was just jkr projecting, which i think she unfortunately does a lot.. ew..

either way. the scene made me uncomfortable because it brings me back to my middle school, but both remus and sev are my fav characters and both remus making fun of snape in that way and snape outing him as a werewolf were shitty things to do and i don’t know whose part i should take.

TW: Child abuse, trauma We are not making Hari an obscurus as a result of the Dursley's, we are using the argument that Hari is not completely sure what the Dursley's hate him for other than just existing in general. He passes off most of these acts of unexplained mystery in general, and although the Dursley's hate magic and it is explicitly banned in the household, he never makes the connection to himself. It is the trauma from the Dursleys that are behind Hari being a system, and another part of the explanation as to why Hari never became an obscurial.

In general, obscurials are caused by children fearing or hating their magic to such a degree that causes a parasitic force to begin eating away at their magic, eventually creating an entity that lashes out and destroys the host. In our rewrite, part of this process is loosing control of their own magic and having that magic spiral, only worsening their own condition and mental state.

To me, this is a representation of how innate magic is to wix, how essential it is to who they are, and the living aspect of magic that can be taken away from them. It is something that, in a sense, is turning against them as they are forced to repress it in dire situations, typically as a result of physical, mental, or general wartime. The one canon example of an obscurial from Harry Potter is Credence, who was raised in an orphanage by a woman who had outright attacked, hated magic, and abused the children in the orphanage for signs of "witchcraft".

I added the part about obscurus and magic turning against them as a way to help build into what they are, and making a bit more sense as to part of the reason why we saw magic as sentient in the first place.

Thank you so much for the ask, and send any more questions you may have! We are having so much fun explaining our lore lol.